Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1887-03-11
STRANGE STORIES OF WITCH
CRAFT.
Belief Anon. Dutch Farmers in the
Efficacy of Charms and spells.

W ILL AMSPORT, Ia, reD. IL " Il a.
do you tniak OF a man bringing suit
against his mother TO recover damages
for a dog, which he charged her with
having killed by bewitching it, and, not
only bringing suit, but getting judy
ment from a Justice of the Peace on the
| evidence presented to sustain the Charge"
said Christian Boz the other day. IL
occurred In Lancaster county not long
ago. The man was weli-to-d"
farmer. His mother was woman
over 70 years old, and, as | learned,
mad the reputation OF being witch
and lived alone IN small cabin, her
! family and neighbors stunning her. Her
son charged in bis complaint that she
! had placed his dog under spell, and re-
| fused TO remove the spell unless he paid
| her certain sum. He refused, and the
! dog ran around in circle until 1t died of
| exhaustion. At the lawsuit before the
! Justice OF the Peace a large number OF
! witnesses testified as to their experience
! with witchcraft, and only one said he had
! never yet had friend or relative De-
| witched. One witness for the paintn
| swore that he mad refused TO grant the de-
| iendanps request not to b. witness Tor
! her son, and since then bis well had be-
/ come dry, his cows gave hl0e0y milk, ana
! his 3mOnths old baby, hich bad before
sucked, and had grown 40 puuy that 1t
WAC expected TO die at any time. The
mother OF the plaintiff, seeing that Il
I strong case was being made cut against
! her, con tossed that she had hewicth ga the
| dog, and the Justice awarded the son 50
| and COSTS.
ain tne vicinity OF Renholdsville and
other back villages are many old women
! who are regularly consulted by young
. and old and in whose arts and super
! natural powers they put the greatest
| faith. / visited TWO of these witch women,
/ as they are called-BarDara Fisher and
Mother Roske. Barbara lives in the 1'un-
! SaTd settlement, in rude cabin IN the
| mountains, six or seven miles from Heln-
| hnldsville. Sbe must be nov 80 years
/ old. She was active and apparently
| physically strong when ] saw Der, nut
| much bent and wrinkled, with hair as
! white as snow. Cunning ana shrewdness
| were plainly pictured on nerface, and ner
eyes were as keen as hawks, and not
much larger. she, IKE all Of the Wo0der-
| working women OF the region, has an an
clent volume, printed in the German
| language, containing many fantastic
signs aud symbols, and known as u
mystery book Some Of these curious
volumes are said % be over 200 years old,
! and were brought from Germany oy
| ancestors OF the present wonder workers,
VINO were themselves adopts in witch
( dOctOring. No alien hand Is allowed to
touch these sacred books, and but few
! persons nave ever seen inside their
| heavy covers. Barbara Fisher cannot be
! induced for love or money 10 try her
! power of healing on one who is stranger
| to her, or who lives in large town. She
| confines her mlnistrations to her neigh
bors, and they go to her from miles
around, Husbands take their wives,
| fathers their children, and young
men their sweethearts to Mother Fisher
| for treatment tor all ills and the removal
! of evil spells, and TO obtain charms that
| will be potent in love and business. If
child is deformed, demented. blind,
| tongue-tied or unnaturally afflicted in
| any way, IL Is taken at once to Dame
| Fisher. II a farmer has a breachy COW,
If sheep have the murraln, IL crops LOOK
bad, Barbara Fishers aid is sought With
out delay. Ii a horse is stolen the old
woman is consulted at once, and her aid
| implored in recovering the lost animal
ana capturing the thief. II there is fire
in the neighborhOod, Mother Fisher is
sought for information as to its cause,
and, If IL is believed to oe incendiary, for
arevelation that will bring the ihcendiary
to speedy justice.
"She will, for fee, give an applicant
a charm to ward Off lightning from mis-
buildings, cOnfound his enemies By be-
witching them, making their wells run
| dry, forcing their cows to give bloody
milk, prostrating their families with sick.
ness, or bringing any dire punishment
upon them that the applicant will pay
for. she will undertake the jon of stunt
lng the growth OF a baby, destroying a
rivaps beauty, separating maH and wife,
settling lovers quarrels, laying at rest a
lovers doubts as to the iaithfulness of his
10. oh,
false, procuring desired marriages, ol
doing anything equally absurd either in
the way of scattering BLESSINGS or call.
Ing down evils, according to the desires
OF her customers and the size OF the Zee
II she fails in anything she under
takes, it is attributed by hel
and everybody else to lack %
faith on the part OF The person she is
working with. In her healing opera
upon her charms Her 'powwOws' con
sist of breathing on the afflicted parts
waving the hand over it, accompanied by
few mustered words, the purpOrt o
which no one understands. Inc cOndi
tons upon which she will consent &c
operate on an applicant are Implicit faith
iu her mode OF treatment, entire conf
dence in and reverence for the 0per ator
and strict following OF her instructions
to the letter. She will then take the case
whatever it may be, and promise thai
every thing shall come about as the sub
!, jecL desires. Singular as it may seem
she has followed professional wonder
working in that community for over
sixty years, and to-day enjoys uni
, versal reputation for inIsllibility
; "Old Mother Roske is said to be 80 year,
! old, and sac looks it. She lives alone
,, and her most ambitious feat in wonder
working was the seeing gold mine II
the vicinity, and collecting a fee from
every farmer in the neIghborhOOd for tn,
privilege OF digging nightly tor the pre-
ci0us deposit. After pretty much The
{ whole Of the ground In the community
! had been turned up aud no gold was
5 found, Mother ROske announced that th,
, work migtt as we'll cease, as IL was evl
dent that some one among the diggeri
had COW with blood in hel
horns, aud until that COW coulC
be found and killed. and the bloOl
3 drawn from tue horns and spilled on Oh,
I ground at midnight when the moon wa,
, 10 its first quarter, it would be useless L
4 look further Tor the treasure. The far
Q mers spent much time trying to find suci
q COW among their stock, and, although
that was several wears ago. whenever
COW is killed TO TINS dav in that vicinity
I her horus are sawed of In hopes that tht
I blood may be found and used as mOthe
| koske directed, in order that the golI
fpn mn h..n iknO